Season 7 - Episode 1 - Perseverance Works !

In this season premiere of the ChefJKP podcast, host James Knight-Paccheco welcomes a stellar lineup of culinary talents and gastronomic masterminds from the Middle East region. 

The guests share their personal and professional journeys, offering insights into the challenges and triumphs of working in the hospitality industry.

As always, it is customary for James to kick off  the first show of every season, with so much going on in terms of the gastronomic landscape, this season's theme is all about perseverance, even during the toughest of times and tribulations, people within this industry have this one topic in common!

James shares a few personal anecdotes, as well as what he believes can push people to the limit.

Transcript

That's right. The podcast is now on YouTube. So you can watch all of the interviews at your leisure. At the same time, your contribution to the show by hitting that subscribe button makes a monumental difference to the show.
As we can keep inviting the guests you love and keep having the conversations that no one else is having. The only thing that I ask is that you share the show. Welcome to the Chef JKP podcast with me,
James Knight Pacheco Culinary brothers and sisters foodie disciples this is the place where you will find your solace a place of worship for all things that combine us together the common thread that brings us around the table food and memories.
Wherever you are in the world, whatever you're doing, I ask that you sit back and listen and perhaps take away a few more sorts of advice. There will be laughter, we're going to get serious.
Above all, lessons for life. You're listening to the Chef JKP podcast. Welcome to season seven of the Chef JKP podcast,
old and new friends of the show. Now, Luigi Vespero,
food and beverage slash culinary director, and I used to work She.?
shit. You. Yes? Tot. "? N Es? She's raise? She's Government. She? No? She's? She's? Well? Welcome also? wz 3 .� her? En her. This hear? б? — saying her���? She ,ork Copy Kob Peace? Her? turned her? She O. Am? Meanwhile? Reverend unto Hi? Uhret? She r? All Her? What actively? Her. She's? Mas She's her her?
She's your She 3' Does O her? She? She's? She her? She's? She Она?
She She's? She. She B, Alex Augusti, and he's also a fellow podcaster. Magdalena Ojovska, who is the founder of Aroma Diolio.
Shaw Lash, who is the chef and founder of Lila Takeria and Lila Molino. Riem Elhouni, who is the CEO of TI22 films.
She is an award -winning film and television producer. In the season, we have not one, but three sponsors this time around. The Truffle House,
Kata Restaurant and a new kid on the block, LoveFit Gourmet Protein Bars. I have to say it is really exciting to get such a fantastic array of partners on board.
They have all added incredible value to this show. You'll be hearing about what they do throughout the season. Without further ado, this is what you can expect to hear from the inspirational guests during this season.
When you come to Truffle House, we don't jump into recommending a product. We don't jump into telling you, hey, we do truffles. No, we first have to understand your exposure and experience with truffles.
So, Number one is, have you been here before? Have you been to our stores? Do you know what we do? Have you been into our tasting room or tasting bar? Number two is, do you like truffles? Because that's a key question.
And number three is, do you cook? You don't wake up to go to work. You wake up to live your life as a chef. Right? And I think this is something that we all share,
right? It is being in hospitality. be a chef or even, you know, being in hospitality in general, right? It's not a job that you do to pay the bill at the end of the month.
It's something that drives your force that comes inside you and you just follow it. I know that they want to work. They have to get experience, but it's all about the money.
We are here to make money. But when I was working with Alain de Cas, you cannot think about money. We were like an army. We go inside the kitchen. Everything changed when you step inside the kitchen.
If he tell you this is blue, you have to tell him we chef. If he tell you this is black, we chef, you cannot say no. Every day we have a nominee, we started 22 chefs.
We end up in one month less than 12 chefs. The fact awards, if I'm not mistaken, we are the only awards in the region where there is no money Like he had this business idea of like,
if you can do pizza and you can do it well, and you can do it consistently over and over and over and over again, you can make money. This is not joking. Come to Dubai.
Because? Because young generation good opportunity run over the world. Because Dubai somebody told me, no, no,
no, no, no. Better is go to France, go to France, go to London. Dubai is best. Yes.
No. That is no apology. Very good. Okay. So if I can improve the quality of the food bloggers, like help tutor them and mentor them, then hopefully they can then support the restaurant industry because it is a symbiotic relationship.
A lot of influences, they don't get that. They're doing it for the wrong reason. Your job as the influencer is to support restaurants and to support people finding good restaurants. It's the extra virgin olive oil I have to have in my diet because that's the queen of all fats comparing to other oils and other fats,
the nutritional benefits and health benefit of that oil can be compared to anything else. So I said, this is my thing, I'm going to do that. And literally,
from day one to the second day, I dropped all my carbs. Plus, I wasn't really hungry because I was having chemo. Fast forward, you know, 15 years,
I ended up working at the restaurant, Topolabampa, which is one of Rick's restaurants, and my culinary mentor. And he's actually, he said it's not that great of a town, but I love the word. And I didn't know that when I was 10 years old,
I would be sitting in that town with like 50 people. And then end up working in the first Mexican Michelin -Star restaurant in the world. Wow. Many people underestimate the importance and the value of the visibility piece,
right? Because things have changed. We're in an era right now where, if you're not visible, you're invisible. We're in an era where you need to make that extra effort to communicate, to be a bit of a personality,
to explain what you're doing. And if you're not that person, you may not be around for as long as the one who is. Each season, The show gets better and better.
The guests are far more candid than ever before, and this lineup of guests are incredibly impressive. Because not only do we have the region's best culinary visionaries, these guests went much deeper into their own trials and tribulations,
which I think you're going to draw so much inspiration from. Now, as for me, firstly, if you're new to the show, a very warm welcome.
If you're already on board, lovely to see you again, you know the score and welcome home. So before we get into the tradition of each first episode for every season,
it is always narrated by yours truly, just to give you a little canopy and amuse bush, if like, of things to come. First thing, I've been thinking about this for a long time,
I want to get some type of merchandise sort of done. So I don't know if it's going to be pens, t -shirts, caps. But before I do that, let me know if it's something that you guys would be interested in.
I think it would be quite cool. And we've been going for seven seasons. So I haven't done anything. So I think this is the time. Now, in exciting news, you may or may not know,
but the Rumors are true. The Chef JKP podcast is now being featured on the entire Emirates Airlines fleet, which is something that I am personally extremely proud of.
Not only that, but more people will also be able to hear about the vast culinary landscape and the simply extravagant talent we have in the region.
So I'm super proud, At the same time, extremely grateful to Emirates for having us on their platform. Now, one small point to add,
if you haven't already naughty kids, make sure to follow, share and subscribe to the show. It's super duper important as this helps to grow the entire show and channel.
Plus, a little five -star review wouldn't go amiss. So what's been happening from my end? A really busy summer work -wise usual projects,
menus, tastings, talks and launches. At the same time, I hope all of you have been having a great summer. Don't forget, my fellow hospitality professionals,
a big shout out to you. I hope you have all managed to get a well -office. and the amazing All Farley brothers were in at number 64.
Without shadow of a doubt, this is an exceptional achievement. However, top 50 best. I would like to see more Middle Eastern talent on the list.
We have so many, we are spoiled for choice, and I'm going to put it out there. They need to be more represented in the region and globally. We have some phenomenal restaurants here,
you know the score, I know you're listening, it makes sense. So that's really important number one. Secondly, the Michelin Guide had a few announcements.
First of all, Doha is going to be a destination for the Michelin Guide. So We will have another destination within the Middle East. That will be in 2025.
Nevertheless, the question is, will it attract more gastronomic talents to the city or the region? I'm hopeful, so I will say yes. And I'm hoping that we're going to see some fantastic homegrown talents within the city of Doha and the wider region of Qatar.
Hopefully, let's see, It's quite interesting, I think. On the guide for Dubai, of course, came out in July, some ups and some downs. For me, it's always amazing to see our homegrown heroes be recognized for their talent and hard work.
So congratulations to all of you. Now, could we have had more? Who knows? Let me know what you think, because it's always really interesting to get your thoughts.
At the same time, we had the launch of the Best Chef Awards in the region. It is also something that should be celebrated, and we had quite a few chaps and chappesses to shout about.
Now, the reason for me talking about the awards is because the theme for this season is perseverance. To succeed at your given field.
You need two things. First of all, discipline. And secondly, perseverance. You could say these two are very much related, I suppose.
Now, when it comes down to me, I was supposed to be selling out concert stadiums and being a kick -ass drummer. That was what I was meant to do in my life.
When I took up the drums as a kid, was I disciplined? Not really, not enough. But something in me decided to persevere. Maybe because I just like to smash things up or annoy the family.
I did do it for a long time, but I wasn't good enough to go into those concerts. I didn't take it seriously enough and I didn't persevere. In the same vein, when I began working in kitchens,
the very beginning was just about getting a bit of money, getting a bit of cash. I was 13 years old. I loved the fact that after the shift we got paid, so it was an instant reward for the hard work.
But the more and more time I spent in the kitchens, the more and more I fell in love with the industry. I didn't care about the hours. I really didn't care about the hours. I just wanted to be in that environment,
holding knives, cutting things, myself mainly, but I really love to be in that place. For some people, it was a summer job and it still is nowadays, but for others,
it's a full -on career. Now, some of you know I grew up in a foodie family. My mom was always cooking at home. I helped when I could, but it was my dad who advised me into becoming a professional chef.
He was the one that says, everybody's got to eat. He had a point, I suppose. Now, if you think about it, the world of Formula One kitchens or mission -in -stared kitchens is not for the faint -hearted.
It is relentless. Extremely hard work. The truth is, many people don't last. For several reasons. But the ones who stay in the game and persevere are the ones who have that Thank you.
sweat, tears. To get onto that podium, it might even take 10, 15 or 20 years to get that medal. But the truth is, people only see the final result.
They don't see those hours of work and hard graft. Even this podcast, a lot of people thought it was just going to be a nice side project during the pandemic.
Actually, it was my wife who had the idea. She said I would be quite good at it. And it took me some time to be persuaded, but she pushed. Thank God. And in the very beginning,
it was just a small project. But I saw the value in the content we were putting out. We have given people a place to share their valuable knowledge,
years of life experience. And to also say that it's not easy. then you wouldn't be listening to me right now.
At the same time, I want to push to take the show to the very next level, especially when it comes to every single aspect of the show.
And by the way, it will happen. And me being a chef, it drives me to keep perfecting the show with every single detail possible.
Now in this season episode,
you absolute legend. Enjoy the new season. Until next time, food is memories.